Geri's Food

Tag: Cakes

  • Orange Marmalade Cake

    Orange Marmalade Cake

    Last Christmas seasons, I have been visiting the Waterstone’s book shop in search for something special. There are so many things on display to catch the eye – from beautiful magazines and breathtaking variety of books to British selection of foods and drinks. I must confess, I really do not remember what has been my purchase, but standing at the counter, I have received a leaflet with one of Mary Berry’s cake recipes, advertising the latest edition of the Great British Bake Off books. The leaflet seductively read:

    Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake – a really good Seville orange marmalade, home-made or top brand, with an intense bittersweet flavour plus decent chunks of peel, transforms a simple creamed sponge mixture into an old-fashioned treat.

    Sure enough, it was just a matter of time for me to try the recipe at home and what a treat, indeed. Deep and intensive cake, generously glazed with orange marmalade, bittersweet and chunky, yet lifted up and lightly balanced with the white icing sugar cream on top. An instant sensation at home and definitely an easy cake to bake and deliciously sample again.

     

    Ingredients

    • 175g unsalted butter, softened
    • 175g caster sugar
    • 3 large eggs, at room temperature beaten
    • 175g self-raising flour
    • pinch of salt
    • 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 2 tbsp milk
    • 3 tbsp of chunky Seville orange marmalade
    • 100g icing sugar
    • 2 tbsp of warm water
    • 3 tbsp of chunky Seville orange marmalade

     

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the soft butter into a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or electric mixer for 1 minute or until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, then continue beating until the mixture becomes paler and fluffy.

    2. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition, add a tablespoon of the flour with the last portion of egg. Sift the remaining flour, the salt and the baking powder into the bowl and gently fold into the mixture with a large metal spoon. When thoroughly combined add the marmalade and milk and stir in.

    3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the cake, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack. Gently warm the second portion of marmalade and brush over the top of the warm cake. Leave to cool completely.

    4. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the warm water and mix to a smooth, runny icing using a wooden spoon. Spoon the icing over the cake and let it run down the sides – the chunks of marmalade will stick up through the icing. Leave until set before cutting. Store in an airtight container and eat within 5 days.

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  • Sweet 16 Cup Cakes

    Sweet 16 Cup Cakes

    Our little one has a birthday. More radiant than the sunshine, always happy now she is growing up and turning 16. Taking days for preparation, we have carefully orchestrated a surprise birthday party, inviting her best friends for a day out in the city. Nothing could be compared to our triumph hearing her joyous scream of happiness when she unexpectedly opened the door and saw her friends standing there.

    Suddenly, the house was full with laughter, constant giggling and chatter, only quieting down for a moment of wonder when we presented to them these funny, delicious and fabulously decorated home made cup cakes.

    Ingredients

    For the cup cakes
    • 150g self-raizing flour
    • 150g butter
    • 150g caster sugar
    • 1 vanillas
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 tbs milk
    For the decoration
    • 1 package Dr. Oetker cup cakes vanilla topping
    • 1 package Dr. Oetker cup cakes chocolate topping
    • 1 package Dr. Oetker sugar pearls

     

    Method

    1. Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.

    2. Mix in the eggs until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Add the milk and mix well.

    3. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.

    4. Using two spoons, filling the mixture into the cup cake forms.

    5. Preheat the oven to 195C, put the cup cakes in the oven and bake for at least 20 minutes.

    6. Once the cup cakes have been baked let them cool down completely before starting the decoration. Using Dr. Oetker cup cake toping decorate the cup cakes following your imagination.

    Tips

    Even though similar cup cakes are slightly different from muffins. There is no need for them to form a rounded dome, they should stay flat in order to leave space for decoration topping. Form a series of errors I have concluded to myself, that I cannot use my muffing trey form when making cup cakes. If I do, their mixture melts during the first five minutes while being in the oven, making them sink to the bottom of the muffins form and as a consequence I always end up with cylinder looking cup cakes with a rounded dome. If I do not use a muffin form however, I risk the chance of letting the cup cakes enlarge their size and taking random forms rather then the beautiful round shape with a flat top that one may expect from a cup cake. To resolve the problem, I have experimented with something different this time. I have placed every single cup cake into a regular coffee cup and I have put them on a trey in the oven. The size of the coffee cups is perfect for supporting the natural form of the cup cake, letting them enlarge their size but still retaining their perfect round shape, raising on top, but remaining flat on the surface. Perfect solution, and perfectly shaped cup cakes.

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  • Banana Toffee Cheese Cake

    Banana Toffee Cheese Cake

    Creamy, smooth, crunchy… Hmm, it is a cheese cake. The beauty of the versatility of the cheese cakes is literally endless. Not much is needed to prepare one, apart from a few basic ingredients and a lot of imagination. And it will not be much untrue for me to say that I love all of them. The baked ones, the fridged ones, the fruit ones and the chocolate ones. But this one is slightly different. No need for baking, just some time in the fridge to set and then all senses could be ready for a celebration. As every cheese cake the creaminess of the filling is nicely contrasted by the crunchiness of the biscuit base, but what brings this cake apart is the smoothness and sweetness of the caramel sauce, the flavour and the freshness of the banana, the hardness of the almonds and somewhere there, in-between the layers of sweetness, the unmistakable touch of the sea salt.

     

    Ingredients

    For the crust
    • 300g digestive biscuit crumbs
    • 70g melted butter
    For the filling
    • 225g mascarpone
    • 100g sugar
    • 2 eggs (split)
    • 2 vanilla packages (Dr. Oetker)
    • 3 gelatine leaves
    For the topping
    • 120g cream
    • 75g butter
    • 1 vanilla packages (Dr. Oetker)
    • 2 table spoons of Golden Syrup
    • 1 banana
    • 50g roasted almonds, thinly sliced
    • Pinch of sea salt

     

    Method

    1. Melt the butter and mix it together with the biscuit crumbs. Line the base of a cake form with baking paper. Spread the biscuit and the butter mixture over the base of the cake form, making a smooth base for the cake. Set in the fridge to cool while preparing in the meantime the cheese cake cream.

    2. Let the gelatine leaves soften for 5 min in some cold water. Bring 3 table spoons to a boil in a deep pan and add the gelatine leaves. Mix constantly for 2 minutes until the gelatine has melted and has been completely absorbed. Take off the heat and let the mixture cool slightly.

    3. In a deep bowl add together the mascarpone, vanilla, the sugar, the water and gelatine mixture and the two egg yolks. Mix well with a mixer.

    4. In a separate bowl, add the egg whites and mix well to form a meringue. When the mixture start so stiffen add two table spoons of sugar. Mix a few minuets more until stiff peaks form.

    5. Fold in gently the egg white meringue into the mascarpone mixture.

    6. In a separate bowl, beat the cream with some sure until it has stiffen. Fold it gently the beaten cream into the mascarpone mixture.

    7. Take the cake base out of the fridge. Pour over the cheese cream and smooth the top gently with spatula to form the top of the cake. Set in the fridge overnight.

    8. To prepare the caramel toffee toping: Set in a pan the cream, the butter, the vanilla and the Golden Syrup and bring to a light simmer over a medium heat. Mix gently at the start letting all ingredients come together then let the mixture gently simmer for 10-15 minutes until the caramel thickens and changes colour into golden brown. Take off the fire, sprinkle over the sea salt and let it cool completely.

    9. Roast a handful of thin slices of almonds and let the cool.

    10. Cut a banana in thin slices and scatter them over the top of the cheese cake. Pour over the cooled caramel sauce and sprinkle over the almond slices.

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  • Christmas Morning Lemon Cake

    Christmas Morning Lemon Cake

    Christmas is always a special season. If I close my eyes, I see the candle lights, I hear the Christmas carols, but most of all I smell the scent of ginger, orange peal, roasted meat and sweet red wine. This Lemon Cake, completes the Christmas occasion in a beautiful way. Served on Christmas morning with warm aromatic tea, hot chocolate or the ever favourite deep and passionate coffee, nothing can be more bright, more homey and more right than sharing the moment with the ones we love.

     

    Ingredients

    • 250g self-raizing flour
    • 220g butter
    • 250g caster sugar
    • 2 vanillas
    • 4 eggs
    • The zest of one lemon
    For the Royal Icing
    • 1 medium free-range egg white
    • 225g powder sugar
    • The juice of half a lemon

     

    Method

    1. Melt the butter.

    2. Whisk the melted butter, the sugar, lemon zest and the vanilla. Gradually, one by one, add the eggs continuously whisking. Whisk in the flour adding a little bit at a time.

    3. Grease and flour the backing dish. Pour over the apple cake mixture.

    5. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes on 175C. Let the cake cool for 2 minutes then take it out of the backing tin.

    6. When the cake has completely cooled, make the royal icing by mixing the egg white, the powder sugar and the lemon juice. Pour generously over the cake and let it harden for 30 minutes.

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  • Summer Fruit Pavlova

    Summer Fruit Pavlova

    It is summer…

    Time for open-air rock concerts, martini-cocktails on sunny terraces, late night walks with dear friends, deep blue sea-side holidays, sunglasses and ten, dresses and high heals, reading books on the edge of the swimming pool, smelling the fragrant scent of flowers, biting into fresh orange apricots, enjoying the fullness of colors and the sunlight. It is time for summer fruit and summer cakes…

    It is time for Pavlova.

    A slice of Pavlova cake has been my sinful delight since a couple of months now. Not very often, but occasionally I would try one during my lunch break at work, I would take a bite and all my troubles would disappear. So light and fragile, mellow and creamy, chocolate chip crunchy… the perfect desert. I have fallen in love from a first sight and only naturally I have been thinking of trying to make one at home. This is the end result, based on the BBC Goodfood recipe, a full expression of summer day happiness and my never dying love for summer fruits.

    Ingredients

    • 4 egg whites
    • 300g cream
    • 1 package vanilla
    • zest of 1 lemon
    • 350g suger
    • 300g summer fruits
    • Fresh mint leaves
    • 1 tsp. cornflour
    • 1 tsp. white wine vinegar

     

    Method

    1. Heat the oven to 180C. Cover a baking sheet with baking parchment. Whisk the egg whites with electric beaters until they just form stiff and shiny peaks. Gradually add 250g sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time and whisk really well between each addition. When all of the sugar is used up continue whisking for 3-4 minutes or until the meringue is stiff and glossy and stands up in peaks, then whisk in the cornflour and vinegar. Spoon the mixture onto the baking parchment and use a palette knife to make a circle about 20cm in diameter. Put in the oven, turn the temperature down to 120C and cook for 1½ hours. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue inside until completely cold (you can make this the day before and leave to cool overnight).

    2. Carefully peel off the baking parchment and put the pavlova on a serving dish. Don’t worry if it cracks. Add the cream, vanilla, 100g sugar and lemon zest and softly whip, then spoon onto the pavlova. Mix the berries, spoon the fruit on top of the cream, arrange with fresh mint leaves and serve.

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  • New York Cheesecake

    New York Cheesecake

    I remember a year ago, reading an article in on one of my favorite magazines on how to make the perfect New York cheesecake. The pictures alone looked so amazing, making me wish to leave everything I was doing and attempt to try one straight away. Caramel, banana, chocolate flavor… Then the moment passed by and my beautiful magazine remained carefully tugged in my bookcase shelf waiting to be re-discovered and enjoyed one day.

    Still cheesecake has been lately on my mind, ever since a week ago when Swa shared with me a similar article by Ruth Rechil with tips and tricks on making the perfect New York vanilla cheesecake. This time, the moment was right and I have left my senses guide me into preparing one following her advise and delicious recipe.

    Ingredients

    For the crust
    • 200g Grany Hazelnut biscuit crumbs
    • 120g melted butter
    For the filling
    • 500g cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 200g sugar
    • 4 eggs
    • 2 vanilla packages (Dr. Oetker)
    For the topping
    • 400g sour cream
    • 100g sugar
    • 2 vanilla packages (Dr. Oetker)

     

    Method

    1. Bake the crust: Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted butter and press into bottom and sides of a springform pan. Put into the freezer for 15 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes, just to crisp the crust. Take out of the oven and let it slightly cool – 10 min.

    2. Make and bake the filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Pour into crust and bake 50 minutes, on 150 degrees. Take out of the oven and let it slightly cool – 10 min.

    3. Top and bake again: Stir together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla and spread over cooled cake. Return to oven for 12 minutes until glossy. Topping will set as the cake cools.

    4. Chill: Cool completely, cover, and chill in the refrigerator at least 8 hours.

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